Variable-speed mechanism.



m'vsmezf YATBNTED APR '18, 1905.

- H. M00. NORRIS.

VARIABLE SPEED MEGHANISM.

' APPLIOA'IIOK FILED NOV. 21, 1904.

BEST AVAYLABLE 2 SHEETS-SHBBT 2.

r :2 LIST iWAlLABLE C Patented April 18. 1965.

PATENT OFFIC j HENRY MCCOY NORRIS,

or Gimme, OHIO.

VARIABLE-SPEED MECHANISM.

srnorrrcsnoiv forming art of Letters Patent no, 787,392, dated April is, 1905.

i Application'filed November 21, 1904; Serial No. 233.576., i

To all {whom it may concern:

lBe it known that I, HENRY MoCoY NoRRIs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cincinnati', in the county of Hamilton andState of Ohi0,-have'invented'certain new and useful Improvements in Variable-Speed Mech anis'm, of which the following is aspecificai trol the speed-changing devices witha lever rocking and sliding on ashaft, the. arrangement being such that the rocking movement of said leverifor each of the several change'sis restrainedin kind and degree. 7 F

Anotherobject of. the invention is to pro-- vide an automatic speed-reducing mechanism forthefpurpose of enabling gear-Wheels to' be interm'eshed .with perfect safety while runningk .Qther features of .the invention are more fully set forth in the description of the accompanying drawings, forming'a' part of this 4 specification, in -which i Figure 1 is-a front elevation of my improved speed mechanism. Fig. :2 is a section on line to m, -Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the entire machine, taken on line w w, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detailed iew of gear-transmitter, showing the pawl-and ratchet mechanism in plan. Fi 5 is a section on line y y, Fig. 4. Fig. 6 1s a detailed sectional view of the tumbler-shifting mechanism. Fi 7 is an end elevation of the eccentric sha t. -1 represents the casing, in which are suitably journaled the driving-shaft 2, intermediate stud shaft 3, and driven shaft 4.

"5 represents the driving-wheel on shaft 2. 'Power may be taken in any suitable manner from shaft 4,.or the arrangement may be .45

reversed, 4 being the driving-shaft and 2 the driven shaft, the invention not being limited to the driving relation shown.

Upon shaft 2 is apinion 6,adapted to turn i with and slide on shaft 2.

7 represents an engaging gear-wheel inter meshed with pinion 6.

.8 represents a tumbler-lever having the fork ends 9 10, between which the gears 6 7 are held, gear-wheel 7. being fixed on stndshaft 11, whichjournals in bearings in the forked end of .the lever This constitutes what is ordinarily termed a tumbler-lever, as it moves'laterally on shaft 2 and rocks on shaft 2 as a center for bringing the gearwheel 7 selectively and independently into mesh with a desired'speed-changing gear on another shaft. The shaft 3 has formed upon it a series of eccentric bearin a b c d e. These eccentrics are of different iam eter and they extend in step-like arrangement downward, presenting a'straight upper peripheral line.

12' 13 14 15 16-are gear-wheelsjournaled,

respectively, upon eccentric bearings a b c d 6, respectively. The gear-wheels are of different diameter, and by meansof these eccentric bearings the teeth are presented in a straight line underthe'gear-wheel 7 of the tumbler 8. These gears present their teeth in step-like arrangement opposite the shaft 4, and they are respectively intermeshed with a reverse step -like arrangement of gearwheels 22 2324 25 26, fixed upon shaft 4. The lever 8 projects through the casing, and the lower wall of the slot forms a straight line horizontally and is provided with the teeth 27, between which the lever S rests in its various positions. it is seen that by' this arrangement the change can be made by lift ing lever 8 sufficiently to clear the teeth 27 and shifting it to the desired position. As

the tumbler 8 describes the same arc of movement for each speed change,- it follows that the gear-wheel 7 so presented to the gearwhcels on shaft 3 that the teeth are inter meshed at the same angleand'with the same kind of .a movement for each change; This is quite an improvement in the ease and convenien'ce of making the change, also in the safety in making the change when the gear,- wheels on shaft 3 are in motion, and this arrangement, further, has a merit of increasing the durability of the gear members.

i yt' et I 34', .thereby-; fixing-the gear 31 to the F anis'r'n: and slowly rotating I the shaft, which i obviously imparts a slow rotation to the gearwwheels on-v shaft 3, making it easy and safeto a engage the-gear-wheelZ of the tumbler withv 6 5,

P i r and soholding t heistm at t is ;outer,end of I 5 th 't Wltllitllfi pa'wl': free from the ratchetless- I have found itdesirable to use some mechanism which will be automatically actuated when the tumblerisraised to cause the shaft 4 to slowly rotate, and thereb slowly rotating the gear-wheels on the s aft 3, so that the gear-wheel? may be safelyinterrneshed with a gear-wheel 'on shaft 3 while running. This mechanism must also be actuated by the speeding up of the shaft 4 when the tumbler is in engagement to throw the speed-reducing mechanism butbf'commission. :For these purposes I have invented the following mechanism: Upon shaft isfixed a ratchetwheel 28, having a hub 293" (See Fi'gsf3 and 4.) The center of the ratchet-wheel 28 is -bored.:toi:a greatergdiametentham the shaft 4 to provide or a collar 30' ting within said bore andloose on shaftl. Journaled upon th hub 29 9f. thaxetshetwhs 28 is a gear- Wheel'31l 32"iepr i relatively slow e de 'of" theiwheel 3 1 with thelteetlr34 of the it tait i se 1 12891 I metrical as;

y 36 represents a "it'at vasfat est-whenthe; a1, 7 is in driviri eiigagernent, the

1 an i asst-marries the yedthereon,-'-the ratchet-'7 M "hawthfegear'ewheel 32,

el'28 lift the pawl outlof entee thl' .il heidirection ofj d -b ,theearroMFmFigi? 4. ende'neyato carry with it in os'e' (:01 an; 30 3 which: tendfs" righthand-iwallofthe' slot 35 r hlgai'nstjtlre handl' lend of the V 36 'thereby strainingmthe=I stem away )intlie enteron which the? awl-is pivoted teeth. Tliis prevents clicking and the use-,

"wear of pawl and! ratchet-teeth; hen tumbler is" raised ,5 the shaft 4 gradually 's l ')wn-until it approximates the slow raft 4 is sullicientlyireduced to release the ing sh aft 4 tlirough the; pawl-and-ratchet mechedge of the stem 36 will be speedofthe gear-wheel 31w; tWhen the speeds tension' between; the;coll'ar- '30, and the" stern 35, the stem-drops] down in the. slot, brin the awl into xengagement with the ratcheta selected i gear-wheel. on shaft 3. It seems AVAILABLE co obvious that if the shaft 4 be rotated more T slowly than the gear-wheel 31 theleft-hand ushed against the left-hand wall of the s 0t 35, thereb strainin thesteintoward thecenter,onwhic .70 the paw is ivoted, which action will force the stem to t e inner extremity of'the slot 35, bringing the awl into engagement with the ratchet-whee r v The device works as indicatedthat is,

when the tumbler is engaged the shaft 4 rotates rapidly relatively and the awl and ratchet are disengaged, throwing the speedreducing mechanism out of commission, gearwheels 31 and 32 turning. idly. tumbler is raised and the shaft 4 has slowed down, the pawl-apd-ratchet mechanism automatically enga e and the shaft 4 is slowly driven through t e gear-whee1s 31 32.

It will be noted that no lockmechanism is used or needed between the tumblerand casin ;.,'lhetumbling-gear 7, lyingbetweenthe 1 I 'fu crum of the lever and the handle thereof, -makes a weighted leverr, 1 I

To rovide for the requisite depth of inter- ,mesh etween gear-wheel 7 and its intermeshing seriesjof' gears, I provide on the casing the adjustable set-screw 38, upon .which rests :the lug 39 in thelever-handle, there bein av set-screw for eachrof. the gear-wheels offh cone. This can'be set to gage'the intermesh correctly; but the tumblerhandle can be picked u with a very easy movement ,and simply dropped in its selected position of en} at alltimes in aioo gagement, its position bein straight horizontal line de edby the bot-' tom wall of the slot 40 in the 'casin fif j;

Having described; my inventionj c'l rn 1-. -,In,avariable-speed device, a tumbler .Qhaa, tumbler lever sliding Land rocking m5" thereon, a inion and tumbler-gear carrie by the tum ler-lever on said shaft, an intermediate shaft having a series of.;-ecce ntr1'c bearih s of different diameter, 'the'iperiph-f miss 0% said bearings being fiushat a-given' no point, different-diameter gear-wheels" jour naled on said eccentric bearings-with thei'rteeth flush under the tu1nblinggear,a third shaft,'and a series of gear-wheels ofdifi'erent diameter thereon interineshed respeetively I x 5 with the different-diameter gear-wheels on the intermediate shaft, substantially as dey scribed. j

2. Iln a variable-speed device, a' tumblenshaft, a tumbler-lever, a pinion and tumbling r 20 gear'carried by said lever and rocking and sliding on said shaft, a second shaft, differentdiaineter gear-wheels adapted to be engaged by the tumbler gear-wheel, an intermeshing I set of different-diameter gear-wheels fixed on I 25 said second shaft, a relatively small gearj-wheel on thetumblsr-shaft,an intermeshing gearwheel of larger diameter loose on -the second shaft, pawl-and-ratchet mechanism for connecting said loose gear-wheel to the second When the '80 I shaft, and means actuated by thechan es of 'speedof-the second shaftto engage and ,disengage said pawl-and-ratchet mechanism whereby when the tumbler is disengaged the second shaft will be driven at a relatively low speed, and when-the tumbler is in engagement the speed-reducing mechanism Wlll be thrown out of commission, substantially as described.

3. In a variable-speed device, a tumblershaft, a tumbler-lever sliding and rockin thereon, a i'nion and tumbler-gear carrie by the tumiilerdever'on said shaft, an intermediate shaft having a series of eccentric bearin of different diameter, the peripheries said bearings being flush at a given point, different-diameter gear-wheels journaled on said eccentric bearings with their teeth flush under the tumbling-gear, a thirdshaft, a series of gear-wheels of different diameter thereon intermeshed respectively "with the different-diameter gear-wheels, on

the'intermediate shaft, and means actuated by the change of speed of the driven shaft isengagement' of the tumbler-' due to the gear for'im artiug a relatively slow rotation to said thir shaft, substantially as described.

4Q In a variable-speed device,'a tumblershaft, a tumbler-lever sliding and-rockin O thereon, a inion and tumbler-gear carried by the said ever on said shaft, an intermediate shaft having a series of eccentric bearings of different diameter flush opposite the turnblinggear, gearwheels *journaled on said bearings res ectively, presenting a flush eripheral su ace of teeth under the tumb ergear, a third shaft, a series of difierenfldiameter gearwheels thereon. intermeshed with the gear-wheels on the intermediate shaft, a casing containin said'iparts and rovided .with' a slot the ower wall of which tum ge and a driven shaft,1a variable-speed mechan- "meshing gear-wheel of larger diameter loose on the driven. shaft, 9. pawl-and-ratchct I is sub rectiongoflthe T5. In a' variahle-s'peed device, a driving mechanism for connecting said loose gear to the driven shaft,-and means actuated by the speed of the gear-wheels on the driven shaft slotted collar loose on'the driven shaft, and a stem one end of which is attached tothe pawl and the other end engages in the said slot of the collar, substantially as described.

on said hub and intermeshed' with said drivin pinion, a slotted collar loose on the driven shaft, and a stem one end of which is fixed to the pawl and the other end of which lies within the slot of said collar, whereby the awl is held out of en agement with the rate et-teeth .durin higIier speeds of the driven shaft and hel in engagement during lower speeds, as and for the purposes specified.

8. In avariabl speed device, a bearingshaft having a se es of eccentric bearings of different diameter said bearings having their peripheries flush pon one side, gear-wheels ournaled on sai bearings, a second shaft 'avirig a series of concentrically-mounted gear-'wheel f of ifierent diameter intermeshed respectively with the first-named series of gear-Whee},,'a shiftin gear-wheel, and

,gear wheels'on the first named shaft, substantially as described.

9. In a variablespee'd device, a shaft, a se.

ries of gea'nwheels-of difi'erent diameter concentrically mounted thereon, an intermeshing series of gear-wheels of'difi'erent'diameter having their peripheries flush upon one side, andbearings for said second series of gear- Wheels arranged with .their axes non-coincident, substantially as described. 1

' 10. ,In a variable-speed device, a shaft, a ries' of gear-wheelspf." different diameter ne'shing'senes of gear'wheels of different diside, bearings for said second. series of incident, a shifting gear-Wheel and means for ncentrically mounted thereon, an inter-j 5 I no aineter' having their peripheries flush upon on gear-wheels arranged with their axes non(-.o

peripheries of said series of gear-wheels, sub

stantially as described.

l l. In a variable-speed device, a tumblerf shaft, a tumbler-lever, a pinion and tumblingto automatically engage and disengage said 3 pawi-and-ratchet mechanism, subs?antisi'w I as described.

-6.',I:n a variable-speed device, a driving I and a driven shaft, a variable-sprawl mcchan- 1 ism on and between said shafts, a driving pinion fixed on the driving'shal't, an intermeshing gear-wheel loose on the driven shall,

a ratchet-wheel fixed to the driven shaft, a i 65 coi'iperating pawl fixed to'said gear-wheel, a i

gear carrind by. said lever and rocking and sliding on said shalt, a second shalt, dlii'erexit-diameter gear-wheels adapted to be engaged by the tumbler gear-whmxl, an inter- !nr-shing. set of gear-wheeis on the second' shaft, :1 gear-wheei on the Imnblersl1ait, an intvrniesbing gear-wheel loose on the second shalt, pawl-aml-r=ttehet mechanism for connecting said loose gear-wheel to (be second shaft, and means actuated by the changes of speed of 'the second shaft to engage and dis- 

